This is the Case Study of J.K., a student in the AP Calculus class. It is obvious that J.K. is not meeting with the same success as her peers. I chose her for my case study because she is so different than the rest of her classmates.
1. Participation J.K. has been consistently late submitting most of her assignments. This includes all discussions. She posts after the discussion is over so it is of very little help to her classmates. She gets zeros for those assignments, does average work on tests/quizzes, and gets some points for her late work. Her grade could be higher if she met the requirements and did so on time.
2. Note changes in the student's participation
The only change in J.K.'s participation is when she actually submits things on time. Her posts are minimal in the study groups when she does post. This is probably true because by this time (March) she doesn't know her group well or because she just continues to the the minimum or less.
3. Note student dialog with other students and with the instructor. How do the learner and teacher interact? How does the learner interact with other learners?
J.K. consistently apologizes to the instructor for her lateness, asks for an extension, and then writes that it won't happen again. Then the following week or two she has the same discussion with the instructor. J.K. gives various reasons for her lateness. At first the instructor gave her the extensions but has now (March) stopped giving full credit or any credit for late work and has become a bit more terse with her responses.
J.K. does not interact much with the other learners. Because she is often 1-2 weeks behind, she is too late to participate in the weekly discussions. This has negatively impacted both her learning and her grade.
4. What types of thinking skills/information processing does the learner exhibit during their online discussions?
J.K. seems to have a good handle on the material from the course when she does post. Her submissions of assignments seem to be right on target. She is able to think her way through most of the calculus problems with little or no assistance from the instructor or the other learners. She would probably do better if she participated more in both the study groups and the discussion threads.
5. How much time in relation to their peers did this student spend online?
J.K. has spent significantly less time online for this course than her peers. She has missed most of the discussions in the study groups and posts weeks worth of assignments at a time. She has not managed her time well and consequently her learning and grade suffers.
6. How familiar and competent is the student with technology?
She seems more familiar and competent with technology now than when she started. She mentions difficulty at the beginning and then had to wait for a new laptop. Once she got the laptop, she seems to have been okay with the technology. Her assignments are scanned, saved as a PDF, and attached to her posts. At the very least, she can do that and post to the correct threads.
7. How successful academically is the student?
As I've mentioned before, J.K. is proceeding with an average understanding, academically. Her grades on tests range from 52% to 95%. She has a lot of zeros for her late/missing work which has negatively effected her grade significantly in some cases.
1. Participation
J.K. has been consistently late submitting most of her assignments. This includes all discussions. She posts after the discussion is over so it is of very little help to her classmates. She gets zeros for those assignments, does average work on tests/quizzes, and gets some points for her late work. Her grade could be higher if she met the requirements and did so on time.
2. Note changes in the student's participation
The only change in J.K.'s participation is when she actually submits things on time. Her posts are minimal in the study groups when she does post. This is probably true because by this time (March) she doesn't know her group well or because she just continues to the the minimum or less.
3. Note student dialog with other students and with the instructor. How do the learner and teacher interact? How does the learner interact with other learners?
J.K. consistently apologizes to the instructor for her lateness, asks for an extension, and then writes that it won't happen again. Then the following week or two she has the same discussion with the instructor. J.K. gives various reasons for her lateness. At first the instructor gave her the extensions but has now (March) stopped giving full credit or any credit for late work and has become a bit more terse with her responses.
J.K. does not interact much with the other learners. Because she is often 1-2 weeks behind, she is too late to participate in the weekly discussions. This has negatively impacted both her learning and her grade.
4. What types of thinking skills/information processing does the learner exhibit during their online discussions?
J.K. seems to have a good handle on the material from the course when she does post. Her submissions of assignments seem to be right on target. She is able to think her way through most of the calculus problems with little or no assistance from the instructor or the other learners. She would probably do better if she participated more in both the study groups and the discussion threads.
5. How much time in relation to their peers did this student spend online?
J.K. has spent significantly less time online for this course than her peers. She has missed most of the discussions in the study groups and posts weeks worth of assignments at a time. She has not managed her time well and consequently her learning and grade suffers.
6. How familiar and competent is the student with technology?
She seems more familiar and competent with technology now than when she started. She mentions difficulty at the beginning and then had to wait for a new laptop. Once she got the laptop, she seems to have been okay with the technology. Her assignments are scanned, saved as a PDF, and attached to her posts. At the very least, she can do that and post to the correct threads.
7. How successful academically is the student?
As I've mentioned before, J.K. is proceeding with an average understanding, academically. Her grades on tests range from 52% to 95%. She has a lot of zeros for her late/missing work which has negatively effected her grade significantly in some cases.